Wednesday, May 17, 2017

I know for some of you, you are ending your school year. Packing it up. Heading out into the sunset. Some of us have snow days to make up and will be in school long into June. After testing, it can be hard to get kids to be engaged. So, here is a great idea. Create song parodies! All you need are the lyrics, a karaoke track, and an iPad.

I love using parodies, because I have the students review things they have already learned. In groups of three or four, they get to choose the popular song to change the words to. Together as a class we pick different topics, and each team gets to choose a different topic. We then get to discuss rhyme schemes, patterning, and syllabification. I model and provide guided practice by writing a song myself. In no time flat, you have kids discussing syllables, and what content to include, and how to find rhyming words. All you are doing is helping manage.

Once the song is complete, allow them to use a movie making app to create a music video. They may want to do a stop motion video, or a live action music video, or they just might want to use images and video from discovery streaming. But here is the tip...

Record the music separately from the video. It is too difficult to record good audio with kids making a video. Record them singing using garageband or a similar app. And then record the video. Move the video into iMovie (or a similar movie making app) and turn the audio off. Then bring in the song from Garageband.

And there you have it! A song that reviews content, teaches important literacy skills, and a 21st century project made with a lot of student choice.